Chopper

An extraordinary movie about an extraordinary man, this is the boldest Australian film in a decade. Downbeat, gritty and ultra-violent, the sensational feature debut of rock-video director Andrew Dominik is a long, sharp shock to the system and offers a show-stopping central performance from Eric Bana (at the time better known for stand-up comedy). This totally unclassifiable biography of notorious criminal Mark "Chopper" Read mixes startling facts from his numerous bestsellers (one was titled How to Shoot Friends and Influence People) with large doses of pulp fiction regarding the supposed 19 murders that he committed. Using a wild array of stylistic tricks - harsh lighting, frenetic camerawork for the drug-taking, characters speaking in rhyming couplets - Dominik's fascinating, funny and frightening look at Read's playful sadism is a masterpiece of innovation. Bana - the real Chopper's casting suggestion - is simply flawless, enacting the man's wicked humour and mood swings with total conviction. You can't help but laugh while being appalled by this portrait of degenerate brutality, neatly summed up by the opening line: "I'm just a normal bloke who likes a bit of torture."